Case 7: Catching the Prankster

"Alright, let us put a stop to this mischievous troublemaker once and for all!" Loki exclaimed.

The detective trio worked diligently, trying to discover new clues about the location of their prank caller. They had already figured out previously that he or she was a Loki from Earth 121789, living in the year 2013, but they hadn't yet been able to track him down any further.

"Have you isolated any noises that can pinpoint a more specific location?" Sylvie asked.

"Not yet. How about you?"

"No, nothing that reminds me of any place on Earth I've frequented. Mobius?"

"I'm getting there; there's a lot of files to flip through. 121478, 121534, 121640… one thing I didn't miss about my old profession was all the paperwork… yeah, here we go, universe 121789!" Mobius studied the file, searching for unique properties of that particular universe. "Ohhh, so that's… hey guys, let me listen to the recording." As the former TVA analyst listened closely to the various background noises, he looked through the corresponding file and nodded occasionally. He then searched deeper into the specific noises until he came to a conclusion. "He's in Springfield."

"Which one?" Sylvie wondered.

"There's only one in this universe. Apparently it features a variety of climates and flora and fauna, which would explain why I heard the calls of the whistling duck from Texas, and a few only found in the more northern states!"

Sylvie shrugged. "I dunno, I got whistled at by a creepy-looking talking duck in Cleveland once. The multiverse is a weird place."

"Those aren't native to Earth, believe me. Anyway, let's not digress. Who's ready to bring in this troublemaker?"

Loki smiled. "It's quite ironic: the three of us met during Mobius's, and later my mission to bring in a Loki, and now that Loki is helping us catch another one of us."

"Yeah, it does feel a bit strange to be on the other side of the hunt for once." Sylvie admitted. "Just try not to fall head over leather-booted heels for this one, okay?"

"Of course, I prefer my variants on the more mature side. Before we depart though, why don't we bring Jörmungandr with us? He knows my scent so well, he could very likely sniff out where the prankster Loki is hiding!" Loki called his great golden serpentine pet over and gave him his instructions. "Of course, I'll certainly need to conceal you to prevent causing a panic amongst the townsfolk and alerting the prankster to our presence!"

"I can help with that too!" Loki's symbiotic Klyntarian friend, Grievance, suggested. "Our bond is so tight, I bet I could recognize another you, even in disguise! Oh, and speaking of disguise…" The eager Symbiote morphed around Loki's detective attire into a black eye covering, surprisingly masking his identity better than his shades did, without making him look terrifying. "Tada~"

"Nicely done." Loki complimented. "I'll disguise all our voices when we arrive, in case he's listening for us. He probably doesn't know what you two look like, but he'll surely recognize your voices." Mobius nodded and opened a time door with his TemPad, leading the team to their destination.

As the Time Detectives arrived, they noticed that Earth 121789 was very similar to each of the Earth's from their own timelines, but with one major difference: the people had skin as yellow as ripe bananas!

"Are you certain these are humans?" Loki asked Mobius.

Mobius nodded. "Remember, every universe has its differences. Right now, we're the ones who stand out. Though these people aren't entirely unheard of: someone from my Earth had a dream about his variant from this universe, and he actually created a TV cartoon based on the recurring dreams he had of this world, sometime in the late 1980s! I watched it with my wife and son back in the day: it was pretty darn funny!"

"So, if you know the people's names and other things about this universe already, do you know where the Loki here lives?" Sylvie asked Mobius.

"Ahhh, that was millions of years ago that I watched this, and my mind is still piecing things back together from when it got wiped: I mainly remember the happy moments I spent with my family, but I know there were no Lokis in any of the episodes I saw."

"Then we'll have to find him with good old fashioned detective wits!" Loki upbeatly responded and pointed. "There's a local tavern: let's begin there, shall we?"

"Oh yeah, Moe's Tavern! Yeah, I'm sure he'll have some info that'll help us." Mobius agreed as he and Sylvie followed Loki into the establishment. They each took a seat at the counter as the curly grey-haired yellow-toned bartender raised an eyebrow at them with concern.

"Hey, are you three sick?" Moe asked in his higher-pitched, scratchy-sounding voice that almost resembled a cat's. "You're looking really pale."

"No no, we're very healthy, we're only foreigners from far-off lands." Mobius explained. He pulled out Loki's generic TVA file, with a large photo of him at the top. "We're detectives, and we're looking for this man. Have you seen him?"

Moe scoffed and started washing a drinking glass. "This ain't an information booth: you want information on criminals, you gotta buy some drinks. That's the rule around here."

"I~ don't remember that rule ever being there, and I, hiccup, come here every day!" A fat patron drunkenly spoke up.

"That's because you're not a detective, are you Barney!?"

"Ahhh nope, not today." Barney replied, chugging his beer and loudly burping afterward.

"Not that you could remember the rules anyway, ya drunken bum." Moe muttered under his breath.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I could go for a drink." Loki admitted.

"Big shocker." Sylvie snarked.

"So, what'll you have, detectives?"

"Could you make me an apple cider mimosa, please?" Loki requested.

"What the heck is that?"

"One part champagne, one part apple cider, a spoonful of cinnamon, and two of sugar, with an apple wedge on top of the glass for garnish." Loki clarified.

"I'll have the same." Sylvie joined in.

"You don't happen to have any Josta energy drinks, do you?" Mobius inquired.

"Of course I have Josta: this isn't the Stone Age." Moe snappily responded.

"Nice. Then I'll have an old-fashioned whiskey with a Josta and an orange twist on top."

Moe made the three drinks, muttering something under his breath about overly fruity people, but before he could serve them, the bar phone rang.

"Oh, hold on." Moe picked it up. "Hello? …uh huh …hold on. Hey, does anyone here know 'Aima Myuu Lingquim?'" He looked around him, none of his customers recognizing the name of the person in question, while the detective trio exchanged looks of realization. "Come on, 'Aima Myuu Lingquim!' Somebody help me out here!" The people in the bar began to chuckle until Loki spoke up.

"A thousand pardons, Tavernkeeper Moe, but I do believe you're being prank called, and this prank caller just happens to be the culprit we've been hunting down. He's manipulating you into calling yourself a mewling quim."

"Ugh, not again. And what the heck is a 'mewling quim!?'"

"Well, in layman's terms, it means… urm…" Loki winced, walked over to Moe, and whispered in his ear. "That is what this Loki is calling you."

"What!?" Moe moved his mouth over the transmitter again. "Why you no good, son of a cactus sucking jackass, if I ever get a hold of you, I'll tear out your funny bones, dip them in bull turds, set them on fire, and shove them up your-"

"Now now." Loki interrupted calmingly. "We could help you find him together: he's been a pest to us as well. For now, perhaps you could start with when he began to call and anything you know about him."